Heat say they're not looking past Bobcats

MIAMI — The Miami Heat have been met with little resistance in the first round of the playoffs the past three seasons, winning 12 of 14 games.

That doesn't mean they are taking the Charlotte Bobcats lightly. The seventh-seeded Bobcats open the series against the No. 2 Heat on Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

"They deserve the respect of how they've played the last six weeks," Spoelstra said. "They've been one of the better teams in the league, certainly in the Eastern Conference. They defend, give themselves a chance every single night."

The Heat are proceeding with caution despite 16 consecutive wins against the Bobcats. They won each of this year's four games by an average of 10.5 points.

"It's always close games when we play them," guard Dwyane Wade said. "That team competes very hard. Now, they're comfortable in their game. They have a great one-two punch with Kemba [Walker] and [Al Jefferson]. They have a great system and all of them are involved. We've got to come with our hard hats on."

Spoelstra called Jefferson, the NBA's 11th-leading scorer at 21.8 points a game, one of the top players in the league since the All-Star break. He would have been the story of the night from the last time the teams played after a 38-point, 19-rebound performance. It just happened to occur during the same game LeBron James scored a franchise-record 61 points in a 124-117 victory.

The youthful backcourt of Walker and Gerald Henderson could also pose problems.

"Walker is a very quick guard," Wade said. "He's always getting around pick and rolls, getting through small gaps. He's going to challenge our defense. Henderson is an athletic guard with the ability to post up, mid-range game, get up and down. They present a challenge for us."

Spoelstra added: "We'll be tested. Our guys understand that. We embrace that competition. When you get into this second season, you have no idea what's going to happen. That fierce competition either brings out the best of you or brings out something else."

The teams ended the regular season on different notes. The Heat struggled by losing 6 of 10 while the Bobcats finished 8-2, including a season-ending victory against the fourth-seeded Chicago Bulls. Spoelstra said he was confident the team could recover because of the reaction after the losses.

"We need to be at our best and we haven't been at our best," forward Shane Battier said. "There's no better time than now to figure it out."

Oden in rotation?

Center Greg Oden made his case to be in the playoff rotation with his season-ending performance.

He played 14 minutes Wednesday in the regular-season finale against the Philadelphia 76ers, his first game back since March 26. He had been out with back spasms.

"I actually was a little surprised and encouraged," Spoelstra said. "This is what he was building toward."

Oden had shown progress before the back injury. Spoelstra said the performance against the Portland Trail Blazers — the game before he was hurt — was his best of the season.

"You could see it and then boom, he gets hurt the next game," Spoelstra said.

Battier reaches milestone

Before playing in his final postseason, Battier ended the regular season with a milestone.

Against the 76ers, he reached 30,000 career minutes played, logging a season-high 40 minutes to reach it.

Despite the game having no bearing on playoff seeding, Battier re-entered midway through the fourth quarter.

"Once I sniffed it, it was like a dog to a T-bone," Battier said. "I had to go get it."

Battier says he will retire after 13 seasons. The extended minutes were made possible against the Sixers when Spoelstra decided to rest forward Rashard Lewis.

"I didn't have anybody else [to play]," Spoelstra said. "I looked over at him in the second half and said, 'Hey, we might need you, buddy.' "